14th Congress of Communist +
Party of Czechoslovakia

Ambitious, realistic

program for advance!

With its historic 14th Con-
gress, held in Prague May 25-29,
the Communist Party of Czecho-
slovakia reached the culmina-
tion of 50 years of its revolu-
tionary course.

In commencing his report on

the activities of the party and
the development of society in
Czechoslovakia since the 13th
Congress in 1966, Gustav Hu-
sak, first secretary of the Com-
munist Party of Czechoslovakia
Stated: “Today we can respon-
Sibly declare that the advance
of counter-revolutionary forces
in Czechoslovakia has been re-
pelled, the socialist system de-
fended. Since April 1969 the
Central Committee of the CPCz
has taken a firm course to over-
come the crisis in the party and
society. The condition for sur-
mounting the dangerous crisis
was the defeat of rightist op-
portunist, revisionist and anti-
socialist forces, the cleansing of
our party, social and_ state
bodies, and the restoration of
Marxist-Leninist principles in
the policy of the party and in
the activities of our socialist
state.

“We have restored fully the
friendly and allied bonds with
the Soviet Union and with other
socialist countries.”

a

The 14th CPCz Congress was
attended by 1,195 voting dele-
gates and 608 guests, and by
‘representatives of 68 Commu-
nist and Workers’ parties, nine
national democratic and progres-
sive parties.

The fraternal party delegates
included Leonid Brezhnev, gen-
eral secretary of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union, and
party leaders Gierek of Poland,
Kadar of Hungary, Honeker of
the. GDR, Zhivkov of Bulgaria.
The Communist Party of Ru-
mania was represented. From
the Communist Party of Can-
ada, Bruce Magnuson and Jean-
nette Walsh were the fraternal
delegates.

s

Bruce Magnuson in an inter-
view with the Canadian Tribune
outlined the 14th Congress and
many of its main conclusions:

Gustav Husak described the

Gustav Husak, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czecho-
slovakia, addressing the 14th Congress. OS aes oe
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JUNE.i i, 1971—PAGE 6 Sn

last years as among the most
difficult and complicated in the
history of the Communist Party
of Czechoslovakia. He described
the crisis as profound, affecting
every sphere of life, and said it
had disrupted the party and the
state and brought the economy
to a chaotic state. The social
security of the working people,
as well as Czechoslovakian for-
eign relations, were endangered
and the revolutionary achieve-
ments of the people, the results
of socialist construction and, in
the last instance, the socialist
system itself all had been threat-
ened.

“After two years of tenacious,
exhausting political and organi-
zational work of hundreds of
thousands of communists,” Hu-
sak said, “we can now justly
state the party is now ideologic-
ally, politically and organiza-
tionally united and capable of
action. Our society is consoli-
dated and the economy has been
restored to stability and is pick-
ing up a dynamic rate of devel-
opment.”

As many as 140,000 members
of the CPCz spent months in
interviewing all the membership
of the party in the course of
exchange of membership cards.
During the pre-Congress cam-
paign all party organizations in
district and regional confer-
ences, and in the congress of
the Communist Party of Slo-
vakia, expressed full agreement
with the course of the Central
Committee of the CPCz- and
with the practical activities of
its bodies.

As a result of this work, for
example, the May Ist demon-
strations held in some _ 1,000
communities were attended by
several millions, showing the
high degree of the party’s unity
with the masses and the support
of the workers, farmers and in-
telligentsia. Preparations for the
Congress were accompanied by
widespread. working initiatives
in plants and other places of
work to commemorate the par-
ty’s 50th Anniversary and to

‘honor its 14th Congress.

First secretary Gustav Husak
pointed out that the inspiring
example set by the 24th Con-

gress of the CPSU and its bold
plans for the future “filled our
people with enthusiasm.”

The main report, in dealing
with the crisis in 1968 and its
causes, referred to the conclu-
sions concerning it that had

been summarized in the docu-

ment, “Lessons from the crisis
development in the party and
society since the 13th Congress.”
This document, adopted by the
December 1970 session of the
Central Committee, was endors-
ed by the 14th Congress.

Husak’s report. confirmed the
evaluation of. the events of
August 21, 1968: “The entry of
the allied troops of the five so-
cialist countries into Czecho-
slovakia was an act of inter-
national solidarity, which cor-
responded with the common in-
terests of the Czechoslovakian
working people as well as of
the international working class
and the socialist community, and
the class interests of the world
communist movement.

“By this internationalist ac-
tion the lives of thousands of
people were saved and internal
and external conditions for
peaceful and calm work were
secured, the western frontier of
the socialist camp was streng-
thened and the hopes of imperi-
alist circles for. revision of the
results of World War 2 were
thwarted.”

The first secretary of the CPCz
expressed “sincere thanks on
behalf of the whole party and
the overwhelming majority of
working people to the Commu-
nist Party of the Soviet Union,
the Soviet Government and the
people and the other socialist
friends for the fact that, in the
difficult situation, they under-
stood the anxiety which the
Czechoslovakian communists felt
for the cause of socialism, and
the requests of many party and
state officials, many communists
and collectives of working peo-
ple for assistance, that this in-
ternational assistance saved
Czechoslovakia from civil war
and counter-revolution and de-
fended the achievements of so-
cialism.”

6

The draft directives of the
fifth 5-year plan adopted by the
Congress and which call for
growth in the living standards
were referred to by Husak as
having an increasingly active
influence on the expansion of
the productive forces. “We do
not,” he said, ‘consider the
growth of material consumption
as an end in itself, but as the
starting point of a general en-
richment of life and the creative
capacities of people.”

Lubomir Strougal, who_ sub-
mitted the draft of the new 5-
year plan, showed how the plan-
ned growth of national income
will provide a 5% increase per
year in real wages. Half a mil-
lion housing units are to be
built by 1975, and industrial out-
put is to increase by 34 to 36%.
This includes 700,000 passenger
cars to be built in the next five

years.
Preparations for the Sixth 52‘

hat

Bruce Magnuson and Jeannette Walsh, members of ba pot
Executive, Communist Party of Canada arriving at Progae sfovall
attend the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Czech?

year plan are to commence in
1973, within the context of work
to be done in economic develop-
ment for the next ten to 15
years.

As regards the main direction
and aim of economic planning
in Czechoslovakia, it takes
fully into account the develop-
ment of international socialist
division of labor and socialist
economic integration. “This,” as
Husak pointed out, “is the only
way to overcome the limitations
of our domestic market and do-
mestic resources and to bring
about the transition towards in-
tensive development.”

The Fifth 5-year plan aims to
bring about faster scientific and
technological development, in-
cluding modernization, complex
mechanization and automation.
The further extension of rela-
tions with socialist countries
does not preclude effective and
advantageous commercial, scien-

tific and technological contacts -

with capitalist countries. The
tasks set by the Fifth 5-year
plan were described as demand-
ing but realistic. The Congress
placed great emphasis on the
important role of young people
and of the 5,500,000 trade union-
ists.

In the concluding part of his
report, Gustav Husak dealt with
tasks in foreign policy. Empha-
sizing Czechoslovakia’s interest
in a peaceful development in
Europe and in an effective sys-
tem of collective security, he
said, ‘We are of the opinion
that the constructive initiative
of the socialist countries over
many years has created favor-
able conditions for the prepara-
tion of an all-European confer-
ence On security and co-opera-
tion and for its convening with-
out any preliminary conditions.”

Husak noted that one of the
unsolved problems affecting de-
velopment of conditions in Eu-
rope remains the unsolved rela-
tions between the Czechoslovak
Socialist Republic and the Fed-
eral Republic of Germany. “The
chief obstacle to this solution,”
Husak told the Congress, “is the
persistent attitude of the FRG to
the Munich diktat which lies in
the untenable stand that it was
a valid international treaty ...
Our just demand to proclaim the
Munich agreement as_ invalid
from the very outset with all
the ensuing consequences is
based on the irrefutable fact
that this so-called agreement
was part of the criminal nazi
betrayal of peace and was a step
taken in causing the second
world war. It was a crime com-
mitted against Czechoslovakia.

“We expect the Federal Re-
public of Germany to’ deduce
from this historic truth unquali-

fied: political, moral conclusions »

o cent

of
in keeping with interndli
law and recognize the a
of the Munich agreeme cog
the very start. Thus the” snes
demonstrate that it wa a
achieve such a regulalll iy
mutual relations wast ft
Czechoslovakian Socl@”” ti
public that would over
unfortunate past.”

iY
In his speech conveyile, ¢
“warm, fraternal gree Cai?
the Communist Party © | Mit
to the 14th Congress, B ,
nuson said: +t
“We wish success t0 yoni
gress and to all the Kia.
people of Czechoslov ne Of
their struggle to overcr git
culties and to assure soci
cessful building of 2 ~
and communist society:

e
“We express our CO ay
ant ; ;
lidarity with the ac d othe i

the Soveit Union an e Pm,
cialist allies under be act
sions of the Warsaw | joi

1968. to restore social 1p
of development an ies
attempts oad by ene ui?
socialism to mount nitty:
revolution in your col , soo!
“The successes yOu oa sit
ed on the economic fi e bi
then bear wins.
cesses made in 0 et
tortions alien to s0¢ ao
cepts of development
theory and practice o nas “of
Leninism. Out of this pot!
a new confidence idatio® “is
achievement, a consoli doub!
stability which will UP 4 by
be considerably enn Co
work of this, the 140g ;
of your party.”

The Congress by
confirmed Gustav
secretary of the
Party of Czechos
nimously elected 4 ors; Me
mittee of 116 membC hrs
presidium of 11 Bs
two candidate mem

ace

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1109, 9
Bruce Magnuson ayo (4

14th Congress on eit ‘

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